‪That's Why the Litten is a Scamp!‬ (Japanese: 市場の風来坊ニャビー！The Vagabond in the Market, Nyabby!) is the seventh episode of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon, and the 946th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on December 15, 2016, in the United Kingdom on April 20, 2017, in Canada on April 29, 2017, and in the United States on May 17, 2017.

Contents

Blurb

Ash offers a piece of his sandwich to a wild Litten, but it grabs the whole thing and runs off! Ash’s classmates have had similar experiences, but everyone says it’s so cute they can’t get mad. Ash disagrees—he wants to catch Litten and teach it not to steal food!

When Ash discovers that Litten has been taking the food to care for an elderly Stoutland despite several run-ins with a bullying Alolan Persian, he changes his mind. Litten and Pikachu send Persian running, and Ash promises to come back with more food! But when he returns, Litten and Stoutland are gone. It seems Ash hasn’t won Litten’s trust yet...

Plot

Ash leaves Professor Kukui's house for the Pokémon School with Pikachu and Rotom. Along the way, they spot a Pokémon, which Rotom informs is a Litten and states he remembers meeting Litten before. Litten approaches Ash affectionately and Ash offers Litten part of his croquette sandwich only for Litten to jump up and take the rest of the sandwich. Ash grabs Litten's tail, but Litten retaliates with Fury Swipes and runs off as Pikachu accidentally shocks Ash with Thunderbolt. Rotom tries to stop Litten but is kicked away as Litten makes its escape. As Litten makes its way through gardens, an Alolan Persian blocks its path. Persian intimidates Litten and grabs the sandwich that Litten drops. Litten attacks with Ember only for Persian to throw the sandwich, causing Ember to burn the sandwich. Litten makes its escape as Persian returns to its trainer who hadn't realized it had gone for a walk. Later on at school, Ash fills his classmates in about his encounter with Litten. Mallow informs Ash that Litten often comes asking for food which she and Lana find rather cute but Ash disagrees after losing most of his sandwich. Sophocles mentions that Litten isn't the kind who enjoys dealing with people. Mallow says that Litten tends to hang around the restaurant and Kiawe has seen it around the market stealing berries and asks Ash if he has a plan to deal with Litten. Ash says he plans to teach it a lesson and when Lillie asks about what he means, Ash says he intends to catch it.

Down in the marketplace, Litten has a look around. Nearby Team Rocket are enjoying a drink and fruit. As they go for some more fruit, they notice the final piece is missing and spot Litten leaving with it. Meowth goes to attack with Fury Swipes but Litten stops Meowth with Ember and leaves. Ash and Professor Kukui are walking nearby with some vegetables when Ash spots Litten running past and chases after it. Rotom explains to Professor Kukui what had happened earlier. As Ash wonders where Litten went, Anela offers Ash some berries. He declines and explains he was looking for a Litten before spotting it on the floor. Anela calms Ash down by telling them to play nice and gives Litten a Berry. She explains to Ash that in Alola, nature's bounty is for sharing and she loves to feed Litten. As Litten leaves, Anela explains she has no idea where Litten lives. Later, Litten goes inside its home, an old abandoned house, and greets an old Stoutland lying on a sofa. Litten hands over the berry Anela gave it and Stoutland eventually eats the Berry. Afterwards, they go outside where Stoutland teaches Litten how to fire off an attack. Later, Litten is curled up sleeping with Stoutland but has a dream where it is walking along a dark path with three dark figures. Soon, things brighten up as Litten imagines itself flying on top of Stoutland's back. But the dream again darkens as Litten falls into a pit where Stoutland is its usual self. Litten wakes up worried, but Litten soon cheers up.

The next day after school, Ash and Pikachu spots Litten, who has a Berry in its mouth and is being cornered by the Persian on the edge of a cliff. Spotting Persian, Ash asks Rotom who that Pokémon is and learns that it is an Alolan Persian. Realizing Litten is in trouble, Ash confronts Persian. Persian launches an attack on Ash before turning back to Litten. Ash has Pikachu attack with Electro Ball which Persian dodges before launching another attack. Pikachu hits back with Thunderbolt which sends Persian running. Litten goes to leave but Ash sees it has been injured and goes to carry it. However, Litten refuses and bites him. Not giving up, Ash picks Litten up and promises to take it to the Pokémon Center, but Litten wriggles free and tries to attack with Ember. Pikachu tries to get Litten to come with them but Litten collapses. Litten attempts to reach for the berry which makes Ash realize that Litten is worried he'll take it. Ash tells Litten he isn't trying to take the berry and carries Litten away. Later at the Pokémon Center, Litten is given a Heliolisk collar. Unhappy, Litten dashes out with the berry before Nurse Joy is able to treat Ash's scratches. Ash chases after Litten, passing Kiawe and Charizard as they enter. Litten attempts to jump through a fence but the collar prevents it from squeezing through. Ash picks Litten up and insists it listens to him.

Later that night, Ash has brought Litten home with it and explains to Professor Kukui what happened. During dinner, Ash notices Litten's frustration at the collar and takes the collar off. Ash sits down with Litten on his lap and wishes that Litten would trust him more. Well into the night, Litten sees that Ash is fast asleep and grabs the berry from the table. It heads to the door but is unable to open it. Half asleep, Ash hears Litten at the door and unknowingly opens it for Litten who leaves before. Quickly realizing what he had done, Ash chases after Litten. Litten arrives at the old house and goes inside where Stoutland is asleep on the sofa and Litten gives Stoutland the berry. Ash enters with Pikachu and Rotom and sees Stoutland. He guesses that Litten had been stealing food for Stoutland and apologizes for the late dinner. Ash then explains to Litten that he had hoped to catch it but now realizes it was a bad plan. He prepares to head home before Professor Kukui gets worried and also promises to bring food the next time he visits At that moment, Persian appears and they all run outside as Persian launches an attack. Rotom exclaims that Persian is out for revenge. Ash orders Pikachu to use Thunderbolt as Litten uses Ember but Persian dodges both attacks. Persian jumps up and tries to attack Stoutland, but before it could attack Stoutland with its claws Ash blocks the attack for Stoutland and gets scratched in the process. Ash then reassures Stoutland that it was just a scratch.

Persian tries to attack Litten who dodges and retaliates with Ember. But the attack proves to be ineffective as Persian simply breaks it apart with its claws. Stoutland barks at Litten to use a more powerful Ember as it did previously when training. Litten begins to gather fire energy on its back which creates an Ember large enough to send the Persian running away with its tail on fire. Ash congratulates Litten on scaring away the Persian with its Ember. Rotom comments how in the end everything turned out fine but it was a shame that Ash couldn't catch Litten. Ash says goodbye to Litten and Stoutland and promises to come back tomorrow with food for them. The next day Ash shows up at the abandoned house with lots of food, only for the house to be empty. Ash returns to the marketplace in disappointment. Anela notices the fruit and realizes that Ash was intending to give the food to Litten. Ash replies that he is sad and wonders if it is his fault for the disappearance of Litten. Anela replies by saying that people will be people and Pokémon will be Pokémon, and reassures him that Litten will be just fine. As she places a piece of fruit down on the ground, Litten appears behind her to get the piece of fruit. Ash, Pikachu and Rotom express surprise at the sudden appearance of Litten. Anela asks Litten if it found somewhere new to live, which it cries affirmative. Litten takes the piece of fruit and runs off into the distance as Ash watches.